Established in 2006, the Psychoactive Substances Research Collection at the Purdue University Libraries Archive seeks to document the international history of psychoactive substances and their benefits to medicine and healing, and to preserve the contributions of scientists in this area of research.

Enjoy this beautiful 1 hour documentary that surveys the history of psychedelics research and the current renaissance, focusing on the potential of psychedelics to enhance insight and creativity, foster psychological healing and growth, and catalyze spiritual awakening.

For more on the Purdue Psychoactive Substances Research Collection, read this recent story from the Purdue Exponent.

Purdue University Library Archives:

The rediscovery of psychedelics' benefit to mankind could not have been possible without the work of Dr. David Nichols, renowned serotonin researcher and former Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology at Purdue University. Nichols also co-founded Heffter Research Institute, which provides funding for psychoactive substances research. Learn more about Heffter Research Institute here.

Nichols left Purdue in 2013 after 40 years as a researcher and educator in West Lafayette. Today, Dr. Nichols is an adjunct professor at UNC Chapel and also moonlights as a speaker at major science conferences...

Genetic material from fungi collections at Purdue University and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, helped a team of researchers resolve the mushroom "tree of life," a map of the relationships between key mushroom species and their evolutionary history that scientists have struggled to piece together for more than 200 years.

"Mycology really is one of the last frontiers in biology," said Catherine Aime, associate professor of mycology, the study of fungi. "We know there are six to 20 times more species of fungi than plants, but we don't really know much about them. People have tried to figure out how mushrooms are related since the time of Linnaeus. It's gratifying to finally solve this mystery."